Flush with funds, VTS strikes deal with data firm S&P Capital IQ

Cloud-based leasing and portfolio management startup VTS is partnering with data company S&P Capital IQ to buff up its research capabilities for both landlords and brokers, the tech startup announced Thursday.

Under a new partnership, VTS’ landlord and broker customers will have access to 4.85 million public and private company records compiled by S&P Capital. The move will enable landlords to vet tenants by looking at their revenue, income, debt, competitors and other data.

“Just because a tenant signed a lease in the building, doesn’t mean they can pay rent for 15 years,” said Ryan Masiello, VTS’ chief revenue officer, who said the deal’s been in the works for several months.

“The idea behind it is we wanted to bring a new data set to the platform,” he said. “We’re providing information about companies that people just can’t get.”

In addition to S&P’s company-specific data, VTS is introducing a marketing intelligence tool that brokers can use to identify prospective tenants. Landlords and brokers will also be able to analyze which industry groups and submarkets are most active, and what office size is most popular among certain types of tenants. “By understanding which tenants are in the market, you may understand what drives future leasing velocity and position spaces to cater to those tenants,” Romito said.

In July, VTS raised $21 million in a Series B round, which followed a $3.3 million investment from Blackstone Group in January. Much of the funding is being used to develop new products and enhance the company’s customer service.

VTS — which largely competes in the space with Hightower — declined to disclose financial terms of its partnership with S&P, which is part of McGraw Hill Financial and competes with Bloomberg and Thompson Reuters.